News
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Grads shortlisted for Sky Arts programme, Stagestruck4th Sep, 2011
Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group, known as The Grads, has been named one of twenty UK-wide amateur theatre companies shortlisted for Stagestruck, a new competitive documentary programme being produced for Sky Arts.
Eight of the twenty shortlisted companies will be selected to take part in the final television programme and compete for the opportunity to mount a full-length show in London’s West End. Seven of the final eight participating groups will be selected by Sky Arts’ celebrity panel of judges with the final eighth slot being selected by public vote.
In the next round, which will be part of the televised programme half of the eight companies will stage a scene from a comedy while the other half stage a scene from a tragedy. All eight will perform for a panel of judges who will select four to progress through to a Shakespeare round. Four will become two, who will go head-to-head with a scene of their choice. The victor of the final round will go on to perform a full-length work in the West End. The participating groups will have five weeks to rehears each round and a professional mentor to help. The programme will film during the remainder of this year and the beginning of next. The programme is expected to air in Spring 2012.
The Grads submitted a five-minute video of an excerpt from Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II (Act 1, Scene 4) with Matt Davies as Edward II, Ross Hope as Gaveston, Rhiannon King as Isabella and Jo Butt as Mortimer, directed by David Grimes. The company selected the piece from a list of public domain works provided for that purpose by Sky Arts. The only criteria for the applicant companies was that the filmed performance could not contain any actors or directors who had profited from such work in the previous two years.
When asked to comment on the shortlist, The Grads secretary and director of the entry video, David Grimes, said, “We’re obviously thrilled to have made the shortlist of 20 companies from through out the UK. It’s a massive honour but we hope the journey isn’t over. We want the opportunity to compete for the chance to perform in the West End. We hope that the Edinburgh community will get behind it’s own company and vote to get us through.”
Voting is via the Sky Arts Stagestruck web page (http://www.skyarts.co.uk/theatre-drama/stagestruck/) and there is no cost to vote. To vote for the grads, click on their video – the clip is of two performers holding hands – which will open a pop-up window. Tick to accept the terms and conditions and then on the button to vote for the video. Voting opened to the public on Monday, 22nd of August and will close at 6am Tuesday, 30th of August.
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New look website is almost up3rd Aug, 2011
After our old, clunky website was hacked into submission it seemed the right time to roll out the new website we have been working on recently. Its still a bit under cooked but if you bare with us, we'll bring it up to spec as soon as we can. Look out for galleries, twitter feeds and content for members in the near future.